Don't know how many watched it, I only caught the last few minutes, but NFL Network aired an hour replay of the game last night with players and coaches mic'd up. Before the kickoff (free kick) on the last play of the game, Flacco said to several of his teammates that they should run on the field and tackle the guy (from the sideline) if he should happen to break free. He went on to say that he had no idea what the rule was, but what's the worst they could do? Give them the touchdown?

Got me to wondering, what the official rule is in that situation? Anyone know what would happen to a player who interfered with a live play from the sideline?

I would guess there would be huge trouble from the NFL, but would it cause a forfeit or a replay or give them the TD? Anyone know?

“You can please some of the people all of the time, you can please all of the people some of the time, but you can’t please all of the people all of the time”

Per Rule 12, Section 3, Article 3 of the NFL Rules Manual:"Palpably Unfair Act. A player or substitute shall not interfere with play by any act which is palpably unfair. Penalty: For a palpably unfair act: Offender may be disqualified. The Referee, after consulting his crew, enforces any such distance penalty as they consider equitable and irrespective of any other specified code penalty. The Referee may award a score."

When I first heard this story, I thought, "Good job on telling the special teams to tackle the guy with the ball. Damn, Flacco is king of the obvious. No wonder he thinks he deserves to be the highest paid QB in the NFL."

AbsolutNET wrote:Per Rule 12, Section 3, Article 3 of the NFL Rules Manual:"Palpably Unfair Act. A player or substitute shall not interfere with play by any act which is palpably unfair. Penalty: For a palpably unfair act: Offender may be disqualified. The Referee, after consulting his crew, enforces any such distance penalty as they consider equitable and irrespective of any other specified code penalty. The Referee may award a score."